KERIC seminar Q&As

Patrik Jarwoll, KERIC Lab Manager, and Anki Sandberg Nordqvist, KERIC Operations Manager , talked during the seminar  and answered the researchers’ questions in connection.

What type of service can KERIC offer?

Please find information on the KERIC webpage .

In short:

• We offer MR (9.4T) imaging and PET-CT in any combination, PET-MR or PET-CT+MR for small animals.
• We provide experimental surgery (4 units) for large animals (human size).
• We offer Angiography CT up to the size of humans.

We can offer all the above services in any combination. Ex. Angio-CT to monitor the insertion of a device in a rat, e.g. to its brain, and then do a CT followed by an MR.

Further, we also offer assistance with ethical applications (EA). We order, host, and treat animals during the time of the experiment. More advanced data processing, imaging analysis, and general support with the experimental setup of the above methods.

Which type of support can KERIC offer for an ethical permit application? How does it work? What are the requirements?

To perform studies including live animals, adequate lab animal science (LAS, species-specific) education is required. The PI, responsible for the ethical license, also needs more profound knowledge, including Swedish law, regulation and ethics and how to prepare for an animal experiment. The animal welfare officer at AKM (where KERIC belongs) helps with the ethical application together with the veterinarian and staff, including a description of methods/procedures, how to minimise suffering, anaesthesia, pain relief etc.

What are the policies concerning collaboration and core facility service at KERIC?

Default is that we offer general assistance with ethical application, experimental setup, and data processing and analysis. This is described in detail in our agreement that will be signed before the start of using our services. In these cases, we wish to be mentioned in the acknowledgement.

We can also plan for more extensive collaboration. In that case, we set up an agreement preferably prior to the start. Such cooperation can, for example, be that we extend the standard commitments to do most of the data analysis and writes a major part of the paper. In such cases, it is custom that the involved scientist from KERIC also is a co-author.

What are the important points to consider when planning experiments and working with live animals, particularly for KTH researchers?

• Do you have experience in laboratory animal science and proper education? Maybe, you need to go for a collaborative study with other scientists.
• An Ethical License (approved Ethical Application) covering all procedures is A-O. Have a well-written Ethical License (EL). The EL will determine what you can do in the study. Example: If you have stated in the EL that an animal can be anaesthetised once per week and the animal wakes up during the study, you cannot continue with that animal until a week has passed.
• Do a well-planned pilot. At this point, we decide more in detail how the experimental setup will finally be performed, within what is already described in the EL. It is tempting to skip the pilot and just start a study. Often that leads to changes in the experiments along the study and results in data that is not useful later and a spill of animals. These are living objects. Think more, plan more and look at what can be reduced. We will help you with this. When using live animals in experimental studies, we always consider the 3R principle; Replace, Reduce and Refine. We also have very experienced animal technicians who assist you with the most interactive animal work or do it for you.

What is the price list for services that KERIC offers (some examples)? In practice, what are the requirements and costs to access the KERIC facility?

• An introduction to our lab is mandatory and free of charge.
• The current price list is SEK 7,500 per unit and day for MRI and PET. That includes most things such as anaesthesia and support from an applications scientist and an animal technician. For companies, the price is SEK 17,500.
• The cost for animals is not included and depends on species, time of housing (acute or longitudinal studies) etc.

Now that KERIC will move to BioClinicum, which animal facility will be connected to KERIC? Which animals will be/could be hosted?

• We have our own animal facility for small animals, mice and rats.
• We collaborate with Karolinska Institutet (KI) and Karolinska University Hospital animal facilities and can transfer animals from them.
• Rabbits and pigs are hosted by KI's animal facility.

What will be the regulation? For small and large animals?

Larger animals such as rabbits and pigs are always hosted by KI's animal facility, and we mostly house mice and rats. The regulation is the same for all animals (small and large), and we strictly follow what is stated in the Swedish Board of Agriculture's Regulations and General Advice on Laboratory Animals (L150 2019:9) 

You are already working with some KTH groups. How is the interaction, and which type of help or services have you already provided KTH researchers?

The interaction with KTH is very good, and we are very interested in new projects with KTH.

In some cases, the KTH scientists collaborate with KI scientists and are recommended to continue doing preclinical work and advanced imaging with us. In other cases, KTH scientists have directly approached us.

We usually start all works with an introduction where the researchers present what they do and what they want from KERIC. We then advise on the best way to do it and how we can do it. (If we can do it.) Maybe here we will do a proof of concept to ensure it is possible. Then we move on to practical aspects such as the Ethical Application. When that is in place, we can start with a pilot (described in the ethical license). 

The pilot is not necessary if the procedure is well known to us. But as this is science and most projects are to some degree novel, working out new strategies is one of the experimental challenges. We are good at resolving these things together with the research that chose to use our services.

Can one test specific instruments? Equipment? What are the limitations?

We offer proof of concept free of charge as long as it does not include a live animal and is relatively straightforward. Here you can test out equipment and see if the method will work for you. All systems are run by staff at KERIC. So, you do not have to know how to operate them. You cannot book/use imaging equipment without staff assistance from KERIC.